We had another great week at school! I am amazed at how well they have adjusted to school routines. We continued to read more Pete The Cat books. This week we read Pete The Cat And His Four Groovy Buttons. This book helped us count, identify numbers 1-4, introduced subtraction, and helped us predict which number came next in the sequence. They really enjoy the Pete The Cat books!

The M/W class enjoyed a Day At The Farm exhibits presented by the high school FFA members. We learned information about each animal such as animal names (cows, pigs, horses, etc), animal breeds (dairy vs. beef cow), gender names (chickens: male- rooster, female = hen, etc), what they eat, what each animal provides to us (pigs= bacon, ham, etc), and more.

Dates and Reminders:

Tuition for October is due this Friday, September 29th

September 26th: Elementary night at the Volleyball game and hurricane relief fundraiser sponsored by the high school FBLA. All PK-4th grade students will get in FREE to the volleyball game. The first 50 PK-4 students who make any donation will receive a free Lady Jays Volleyball t shirt. Dig out your spare change and show your support for your Lady Jays and the our fellow Americans in Texas and Florida. No donation is too small. Come and stand on the court in the team tunnel with Ms. Mikki! The first game starts at 6:00!

September 29th: Volunteer Training: 9:00-9:30. If you wish to volunteer in the school other than class parties, you must attend this training.

October 5th: School picture day- We will have our pictures taken before we leave on the field trip. Please have your student at school by 8:00. We will take them to have their picture taken, and then parents may take them and plan to meet us at the pumpkin patch at 9:00. We are not having preschool classes this day.

October 5th - Field trip to Campbell’s Pumpkin Patch. We are not having preschool classes this day. A permission slip and waiver was sent home last week. Please fill it out and return it and $5.00 (student admission) to school this week. All students attending the pumpkin patch must be accompanied by an adult (parent, grandparent, guardian). Adults attending the field trip will pay for their own admission at the gate ($5.00). We have reserved tables at the pumpkin patch. All students and parents are welcome to join us for a picnic lunch after touring the farm. Please pack a lunch if you’re planning to stay and eat.

October 6th: PAT Storytime- 10:00

October 7th - PTA Fall Festival

October 9th- Fire Prevention Week

October 13th - Fall Break- No school

October 16-17th - Parent/Teacher Conferences

Heads up! In October I’ll be assessing “Personal Information”. This is something that we’ll need a lot of parent/home support on. Over the course of the month, I’ll be asking your child these things:

First and last name

Birthday (Day and month)

Mom and Dad’s name

A phone number

Address- I’ll be happy with a street name and City (ex: Mt. Carmel Rd, Clever)

A handout will be sent home with your child on Tuesday with different information on it and with the bottom portion to be completed and returned to school. Please watch for that. A handout will also be sent out next week regarding the Halloween party. I will be sending home handouts throughout the year with information about our class parties etc. My handouts will always be on brightly colored paper, so be on the lookout for those.

On Wednesday the Clever HS FFA organization will be hosting their annual Day on the Farm. The preschool classes will attend a short presentation at 8:30, followed by a tour of the farm exhibits on the field next to the bus lane. Students in the M/W class will attend as a class. T/TH students are invited to join us with their parent. T/TH parents, please RSVP to me via email so I can let the office know who will be checking in on Wednesday. Thanks!

The Cox Care Mobile is scheduled to be at Clever Schools tomorrow, Tuesday, September 19. The Care Mobile is a medical office on wheels that provides FREE services to children ages birth to 18 years. This service is provided whether you have insurance or not. You may call the school nurse to inquire about the services provided, to schedule an appointment, and to receive the necessary paperwork. Thank you!

It takes a lot of practice for us to learn to sit in a group and maintain attention for brief periods of time. As our year goes along and our attention span grows, our circle time will also grow.

We read Pete The Cat- I Love My White Shoes and did several activities to support our Language and Social/Emotional learning target. We took turns listening to our friends as they each shared their favorite color. We also used our recall skills as we charted the things that Pete stepped in, and what color it turned his shoes. We also made a “predictions” chart. If I stepped in ____, my shoes would turn ____. Next week we will continue to read other Pete The Cat books.

Are you reading at home? Last week I sent home a reading challenge calendar. If you didn’t get one, turn over your child’s folder. It is tucked inside the clear pocket on the backside of the folder.

Assessments: There are a couple of different ways I assess skills, expressive and receptive. I always assess expressive first. This method involves language (meaning they have to give a verbal response). If they are not successful this way, I assess the same skill using receptive skills.

Example:

Expressive- What color is this? They respond with a color word.

Receptive- Point to the gray block. They respond by pointing to the correct color.

A child may be able to identify all of the colors receptively, but may not be able to name all of the colors expressively. Either way both methods provide knowledge of the skill.

This week I assessed rote counting from 1-10. I posted a video of your child counting on their See Saw portfolio.

I also assessed color naming and recognition.

Heads up! In October I’ll be assessing “Personal Information”. This is something that we’ll need a lot of parent/home support on. Over the course of the month, I’ll be asking your child these things:

First and last name

Birthday (Day and month)

Mom and Dad’s name

A phone number

Address- I’ll be happy with a street name and City (ex: Mt. Carmel Rd, Clever)

Name two/three friends in class

Reminders:

Just wanted to make sure everyone is signed up for the blog emails. If you did not receive the blog email on Monday, there may be one or two things to check. (1) Make sure you have gone to the preschool website at http://cleverpreschoolteague.blogspot.com/and entered your email address in the box on the right hand side down a little bit that says “Follow by Email”. (2) Once you have followed those directions, you will get an email at the address you entered from “Feed Burner” and you will need open the email and follow the directions to verify your subscription to receive the blog emails. If you do not verify, you will not receive them in your email each week. (3) If you do not receive an email from Feed Burner, make sure you have checked your junk mail or spam mail folder. (4) If you have tried steps 1-3 and still can not find it, please email me to let me know and we’ll try again. My email is teaguem@cleverbluejays.org

Facebook Page: If you have Facebook you can also keep up with our class news at Ms. Mikki’s Clever Preschool Class. Be sure to “Like” the page. I post reminders, newsletters and other school news there.

Tuition: If you haven’t sent in your September tuition, please do so this week. If you would like an application for state assistance, please let me know and I’ll send one home with your child.

1-2-3 Magic- I use this daily for classroom management. Everyone has been through the training and should be familiar with it. We highly encourage you to use this method in your homes as well as it provides consistency between home and school. I won’t always send home a note if they have to “Stop and Think” (timeout), but if a behavior continues to be an issue I will send home a note. Automatic 3 “Stop and Think” offenses include hitting, pushing, biting, pinching, kicking or any other form of aggression. I will always send a note home for these behaviors.

Dates to Remember:

September 18th: School wide fundraiser kickoff. Stay tuned for more info!

September 19th - Cox Care Mobile - The Care Mobile is a medical office on wheels that provides FREE services to children ages birth to 18 years whether you have insurance or not. You may call the school nurse to inquire about the services provided, to schedule an appointment, and to receive the necessary paperwork.

September 20th - Day on the Farm (during class times)

September 21st: WATCH Dogs Pizza Party- 6 pm

September 26th: Elementary night at the Volleyball game and hurricane relief fundraiser sponsored by the high school FBLA. All PK-4th grade students will get in free to the volleyball game. The first 50 PK-4 students who make any donation will receive a free Lady Jays Volleyball t shirt. Dig out your spare change and show your support for your Lady Jays and the our fellow Americans in Texas and Florida. No donation is too small.

September 29th: Volunteer Training: 9:00-9:30. If you wish to volunteer in the school other than class parties, you must attend this training.

October 5th: School picture day- We will have our pictures taken before we leave on the field trip.

October 5th - Field trip to Campbell’s Pumpkin Patch- 4 year old classes will ride the bus to the Pumpkin Patch. 3 year old classes will need to provide their own transportation. This is also a PAT event, so siblings enrolled in PAT are also encouraged to attend with their parents. More details to follow soon.